Imperfect two
by Leonas
Summary: The dead-last and the Kunoichi of the year. Two individuals taht are seemingly world apart. However a meeting between the two will reveal that they are more made for each toher than anyone expected. As much as she will hate to admit it.
1. Unexpected teacher

Naruto grunted to himself as he hit the training post with all the strength his seven year old body had in it. So not very hard at all. It didn't help that again everything in the movement felt off. Wrong. But every time he went to his teacher about it they said he was just looking for attention since he was doing everything properly. He was doing everything as they told him to do it. So why was he so far behind everyone in his class when it came to the basics?

It couldn't be because he was a year their junior right? Did begging Gramps to be let in the academy a year early actually hurt him? No he wouldn't believe that. He had already been in the academy for a year. He should be better than how he was. Even that kid Rock Lee was doing better, and he was just as bad if not worse at the jutsu portion of the lessons. He angrily punched the post again with a sloppy punch and felt something give. He hissed in pain as he put his hand to his chest. It was already starting to heal, but damn did it hurt.

Seeing how he couldn't punch at the moment he took this moment to catch his breath, and his body slumped slightly. Why was this so hard? He was going to be the Hokage. The strongest ninja in the village. If everyone else can do something so simple then so should he. He could do this. He would do this… what was that sound?

As Naruto's breathing settled down and got quieter, his ears registered a new sound. The sound of something hitting into wood. Repeatedly. It had to be someone else using one of the nearby training areas. That wasn't exactly unexpected, but it was surprising. Not many use this area. It was why he did. But maybe he could watch them and learn that way. Or maybe they would leave behind some tools he could scrounge up. Either way it would prove a good distraction from what he was doing. Alright time to go check it out.

Moving with stealth honed from his budding prankster habits, he made his way towards the source of the noise. Slowly making his way through the underbrush and using the various bushes for cover. For some reason people didn't like it when you watched or walked in on them training. Or maybe it was just him. He couldn't really tell. Not that it would matter. Even at his age, not many could compete with his stealth skills when the felt like implementing them.

It only took a few minutes for him to make his way to the source of the noise, and he silently swore to himself when the source came into view. Before him was Tenten, a girl from his class, practicing her specialty. Her arms moved in graceful arc as shurikens, kunais, and other small implements of flying death flew from her hands and into targets. She was the best of all the students at the art of throwing. Even at the age of eight she hit the bullseye nine out of ten times. It was both awe-inspiring and frustrating. The fact that she was also the top kunoichi just drove it all home.

Even though Naruto wanted to watch and try and learn he couldn't stop himself. "How are you doing that!?" He called out without thinking. He didn't realize his mistake of disturbing a kunoichi that was currently concentrating on throwing deadly implements, until he was dodging a deadly hail of metal. "Hey! That was not called for!" He shouted returning the glare he was currently receiving.

"Why are you here?" The bun-haired girl asked with a growl and a voice dripping with venom. Several shuriken were already in hand and in position to throw.

"I was training nearby and heard noises. I came to see who was over here and what they were doing." he explained, keeping an eye on the pointy stars of painful death. That seemed to satisfy her enough that she lowered her arms though didn't put away her weapons. "How come you are so good? No matter how hard I try I can't even do a third as good as you."

She scoffed at him and rolled her eyes. "Thats because your technique is terrible. You pretty much ignore the instructions given to you by the instructor, and do everything wrong."

"What? But the teacher pulled me to the side early into the school year and taught me that technique. Said that it was a little harder than the normal one, but would put me above everyone if I mastered it." He explained feeling a sense of wrongness. "He encouraged me to not follow the instructions he gave in class and told me not to tell others or brag about it."

"You expect me to believe that the teacher taught you the wrong throwing technique on purpose? As well as to hide the fact he told you the technique?" She asked. She sounded very annoyed.

"If it.. is wrong… But it couldn't be. Why would the teacher lie to me about that? In fact he gave me private instruction for all my techniques. Taijutsu, ninjutsu… throwing…" All thing he was far behind everyone else on. That was not painting a good picture. Especially if Tenten was right and everything he had been taught had been wrong.

"What, you going to blame the teacher for your crappy test scores too?"

"No, I just honestly don't like studying. All those subjects are boring, and have almost no use in a ninja's life. Especially in the way they test them." He gave a shudder. He really hated written exams.

The kunoichi in training rolled her eyes again. "Whatever. Blame whoever you want. Your technique is still terrible."

"Then show me the right one." he suggested.

"Why would I do that? You're just the trouble maker. The deadlast. The runt that thought he could run with the big dogs."

Naruto gritted his teeth at her insults but pushed onward,"To prove your point. If you are actually right then knowing the right technique would make me better wouldn't it?"

She scoffed again. "Fine. Get over here." she demanded putting one handful of shuriken away. She looked fairly annoyed. However when he took a position next to her she huffed then slowly moved her arm. It seemed to curl and uncurl on itself as she moved it from the starting position of her opposite shoulder to straight at the target. She repeated two more time before doing it at full speed and filling up the target in front of her with shuriken.

He took a few of his own shuriken. They weren't nearly as good condition as her. They were courtesy of scrounging and the few times he had been able to shop. They were on the dull and rusty side, though still somewhat serviceable. He could feel Tenten's eyes judging him as he moved his arm in a rough imitation of hers. It felt odd moving his arm like this. Not bad. Just odd. In fact this felt a lot more comfortable. He shot his arm out, letting it move almost naturally through the form Tenten showed him.

The result wasn't as good as her's, but it was much better than his previous attempts at school. He started at the target in wonder. "Hmph looks like you CAN do something right." The bun-haired girl commented. For some reason she sounded even more annoyed.

He turned towards her and clasp his hands in under his chin. 'Please teach me more." He begged.

"What?" she asked, frowning deeply.

"Teach me more. You just helped me do more in a few minutes than that stupid teacher did in a whole year. PLEASE!?" He pouted at her and gave her his best puppy eyes. She frowned more. "I'll do anything. Just teach me one thing. Anything."

She stared at him. Judging him. Her face thoughtful but still not pleased. "Anything?"

"Yes, anything."

"And why should I do this?"

"Because you are the most awesome person in our class. Especially more so than that jerk Neji."

"You are just saying that, because he kicks your ass, and everyone likes him more despite his attitude."

"No, I'm saying it BECAUSE of his attitude. Besides you could kick my ass too, and I still think you are awesome."

"Hmph, fine. help me clean up, then I will teach you. But I know exactly how much of everything I brought, and in what condition they should be, so don't try to make off with any of my stuff." she accused glaring at him a little.

He pouted at her but said nothing as he nodded and began collecting the various throwing weapons. Making sure to only put away his own, and made sure to do it in full view of her. Which wasn't hard since she watched him with the eyes of a hawk. She was so untrusting. Naruto had never stolen anything from anyone. Everything he got from the training grounds were things people left behind. It wasn't his fault others were negligent with what was theirs. Finders keepers and all that.

It wasn't hard to gather everything. Nor did it take long for her to pointedly count everything. Despite having watched him the entire time. Seriously his stealth was amazing, but you can only do so much while being observed. Not that he was planning on doing anything to begin with.

He noticed that even now, after attempting to prove his seriousness and trustworthiness, she wasn't at all happy with this. She was never this unfriendly to others in class. Granted she wasn't that social either, but at least she acted friendly to those that talked to her. Yet, like everyone else she seemed predispositioned to not liking him. He couldn't understand it. He never did anything to her. Not really.

The fact that the teacher, who seemed to be giving him special attention, was actually giving him bad advice stung a little. Sure it was hard to swallow, but if simply switching over to do things how the teacher told him NOT to do something made him that much better with throwing… what else had the teacher messed him up on? He felt wrong when he did just about everything the teacher helped him with. Maybe he should seek advice and help with his taijutsu too. That Rock Lee kid seemed nice and he WAS the second best in taijutsu. That arrogant jerk Neji was of course first in that area.

"Alright, looks like this is everything." his soon to be teacher huffed, dragging him out of his future plans. "Lets go then. Might as well get this over with." With that she turned away and started walking. Naruto scrambled to catch up.

"Where are we going?"

"My father's store. If I'm going to teach you anything I might as well teach you something from there."

"What kind store is it?"

"Ninja supplies and weapons."

"COOL!" Best teacher EVER!

* * *

Tenten sighed to herself as her father's store came into view. She really didn't like this. Not all. Not only had the dead last of the class some how snuck up on her, in bright neon orange, but he now wanted her to teach him something. Seriously the idiot didn't pay attention in class, and wouldn't even try to put in any effort in anything they did there. The fact that he had the nerve to blame the teacher really irked her. He always claimed he would be Hokage, yet couldn't even take responsibility for his failures.

However, she would use this. It was likely he was hoping she would teach him something flashy and easy. The fact she was bringing him to a weapon shop would likely cement this. However she was going to run him into the ground. It was obvious that the moment things got too hard or difficult that he would quit. It was very much like him. After all that's EXACTLY what was happening in class right? However for as long as he stayed under her tutelage she could also milk him for all he was worth. Even if it was probably for very little.

As soon as they entered the blondes eyes lit up. She sighed again. "I will teach you how to use ONE weapon in here. Just one. Go pick one out."

"ALRIGHT!" the blonde immediately went to the nearest rack and started enthusiastically looking around.

She already had it planned. She was going to force him to learn the first weapon he so much as TOUCHED. Then she would charge him for the weapon, and if he couldn't afford it she would make him work for it at the store… with dad's permission of course. She wouldn't overcharge him or sabotage his training, but she would run him into the ground.

Plus she just knew someone as flashy as him would want the most expensive looking sword in the store. His type always did. In fact there he was looking over the swords now.

He was so predictable it was pathetic.

She watched as he looked over the weapons with that large grin on his face. No wait. the grin was gone? Why did he look so thoughtful? She did NOT want a fire starting in here. She watched closer as he reached a hand toward a nodachi. She started forward in order to pounce. However before she could say anything, the hand stopped not even half way and the boy shook his head before leaving the rack.

Wait… what? Did he just… No way he was an idiot wasn't he? Flashy and loud? did he just put THOUGHT behind something?

She watched him closer as he continued to browse the store. He passed by several weapons that she thought for sure he would want without a second glance. Several others he seemed to talk himself out of what seemed to be a made choice. It was like he was judging each weapon. But that couldn't be. He shouldn't know anything about anything in here. He was suppose to go towards the shiniest flashiest thing and immediately pick it up like the idiot he was.

Maybe she was giving him too little credit. He did show some talent when he tried with throwing. But that was just as bad in her mind. It meant that he COULD do what they were doing in class and was purposely NOT doing it. Unless… he wasn't lying and the teacher was responsible. No that was rubbish. No way that could be be true. She would just have to keep a closer eye on him in class.

Though that would come later. Right now she still had to wait for him to choose something. She was starting to get impatient. However it would seem he finally made a choice. He was staring at one of the few weapons she didn't think he would look at. Before the blonde was a rack of wooden and pure iron clubs that had short sturdy spikes cover the upper third while the lower third had cloth wrappings. They varied in size from forearm length to being as tall as to her shoulders. The deadlast was staring at kanabo.

They weren't the most expensive things in the store. Weren't the cheapest either. They also weren't hard to use. They WERE just clubs after all. You could easily just swing them around. However to master and actually use it effectively was tough work. She smiled as her prey picked up one of the larger iron clubs and started weighing it in his hands.

"Glad you finally chose. " She said with all her impatience evident while making sure she wasn't smiling.

He looked over to her with confusion. "No I haven't I was just-"

"You should look with just your eyes next time. Now the kanabo,"she gestured to the weapon in his hands "seems simple but it is anything but. It requires both agility and balance to use as well as strength." She then cracked a smile that showed her teeth. "Also I hope you are prepared to PAY for that weapon."

"WHAT!?"

"What? you thought I would just give you the weapon I was going to train you in?"

"No. I thought we would be using practice weapons.. or I would borrow a spare for training purposes." Well… that was well thought out. And logical. But it didn't help her any.

"You said you would do anything right? Besides once you learn you are going to need something to keep practicing with or use in the future. After all doing anything else would make the lessons go to waste."

The blonde nodded in what could only be understanding. However he seemed distracted as his lips moved silently and one of his hands twitched towards a pocket in his ugly orange jacket. That pocket probably held his wallet. However what caught her attention most was the panic in his eyes. Okay so the weapon wasn't cheap, but it also wasn't going to break the bank either. He didn't need to worry so much.

However rather he needed to or not, his worry started to disturb her a little so she decided to quickly drop the second sandal. "If you can't afford it, you can always work it off. Work here to pay off the weapons price, alongside my training, and class." Yeah that ought to make him drop everything. Especially if paying the price-

"Alright I'll do that." What?

She looked him over again. All the panic and worry was gone from him, and that smile was back full force. What was with him? He barely put any effort into anything they did in class, and yet when given the choice between paying for something or working overtime for it, he chooses to work more? That made no sense with what she knew about him. It seemed like something that hot-blooded Lee kid would do. Not the deadlast class clown. She was missing something. She had to be. There was no way she could be this wrong. Right?

"Alright. I'll talk to my dad about it. If he approves then we will get you set up" She said after a moment. The blonde nodded and turned and started to put the weapon in his hands back. "What are you doing?"

"Putting it back?" He said sounding unsure as he looked at her over his shoulder. "I haven't paid for it yet, so it's not mine."

Well that was sensible. And for the most part right… "Alright, you are correct in that however, it is the one you chose and if my dad says no you WILL be paying in cash. So I will be taking that to put in the back on hold for you." She declared while taking the spiked club from him and away from the rack.

He just nodded at her and gulped a bit. "Now since that is taken cared of, you can head home. I will let you know when everything is ready for you to start training under me. Do not approach me, I will approach you. Got it?"

"Yeah teacher, I got it." She actually liked the sound of that a little. Especially how he said it with some respect and understanding in his voice. She was going to have to keep an eye on him. With that he left her store at a fast walk. There was really something off about all this, and she was going to find out what.

She would have to do it tomorrow though. Today she just wanted to relax before she asked her father permission to hire Naruto temporarily. She just hoped he wouldn't be upset.


	2. Rude awakening

Tenten huffed to herself. For the umpenth time her finger twitched with the desire to start hurling things at her problems until they went away. Though she was pretty sure it wouldn't work with this particular problem. Besides her problem wasn't as clear cut as she thought it was.

It had been a week since she agreed to start teaching Naruto. A week of seeing the blonde and watching him look at her expectantly only to see him deflate a bit when she never approached. Honestly she thought he would ignore the whole, "don't approach me, I'll approach you" thing and run up to her the next day. But no, for the whole week he waited. She could tell he was using every scrap of patience he had… though she also noticed that as the week went on he waited a little less time before seeming to deflate just a little bit more. It was kinda sad to watch really. However she couldn't approach him right away. She had wanted to see something. Wanted to see what the truth about the blonde really was.

It all started when she asked her dad if it was alright for Naruto to work there so he could work off the payment of the kanabo he was going to buy so she could teach him it. The man had nodded, and stated that it would do the boy some good. That he would get a bit more discipline and have less time to do pranks. It was said in such an approving and relaxed manner that it completely took the kunoichi in training off guard. She honestly expected her father to put up SOME kind of resistance. However when she asked him why he would have no problem letting a trouble maker like Naruto work there, he responded with "Most trouble makers aren't taught how to make anything else. They just need attention and a guiding hand thats all."

That had filled her with a sense of unease. It went against everything she knew about the blonde. However from what she noticed when she watched the boy shop just earlier that day… could she really say she knew him? Did anything really match up when it came to him?

So she spent the last week watching her future student. What she saw when she actually paid attention didn't make her happy in the slightest.

She always hated being proven wrong. She was a ninja, being wrong about anything on a mission could lead to failure or even death. She was the top of her class. She specialized in throwing weapons. She was suppose to be able to observe and notice everything around her. Able to tell what was right and wrong with a situation in a single glance. The fact that her glance had been wrong irked her to no end.

It had started in class. She had made sure to observe the blonde throughout it. During the lectures he did in fact seemed bored and lost interest easy. That fit what she knew. However then practicals happened.

First had been throwing. Naruto, with his last name beginning with U, was one of the last to throw. Everyone was ready for the same showy failure they were treated to each time he came up. However this time he threw his weapons with precision. There was no sloppy haphazardly aimed trajectories from loose swinging arms. No, this was a vast improvement. He eyed his targets. His arms and wrists had a nice snap to them. While he was nowhere near her level, he was well above average. In fact he did better than the day before. If she didn't know any better she would believe he had actually practiced. Which… she would later found out he did. But she didn't know that then.

However she didn't focus on that. Her attention was where no one else's was. The teacher. This was a man that without fail would praise a child for improvement. However this time he said nothing. In fact he was giving the slightest of frowns. Granted he was standing behind the gathered children, and thus most wouldn't normally see his expression, but it still struck her as odd. Thats was when she realized something. The teacher always told Naruto after he did horribly, "maybe next time" with a small smile. Never scolded the boy for her terrible throwing no matter how awful the attempt. She felt her stomach sink a little as Naruto did a little cheer for his success with the completely stunned silence of the class as a backdrop.

Without a word from the teacher the blonde joined his fellows with a large smile on his face. That wasn't too significant since he always had one plastered on his lips. However this one seemed… different. It made the bright day seem brighter. Like all the smiles she saw before this one were just pale imitations. For just a split second it looked like it got wider and brighter as it passed over her, but it was probably just her mind playing tricks on her.

No one spoke or moved until the teacher told the next in line to start. Even then it took a few seconds for the next person to prep themselves from the shock. There was a noticeable decrease in accuracy.

The next shock had been taijutsu training. She made sure to keep an eye on the blonde, as the first thing the teacher had them do was work on the basics of either the academies style or the style of their family, as a warm up before spars. She watched as the blonde looked around instead of starting right away before approaching Rock Lee while the teacher was distracted. He proceeded to ask the boy for tips and advice on the basic form stating that he just couldn't seem to understand what the teacher was trying to explain. He then went on to say that since Rock Lee was one of the better fighters then he must have a firm grasp on what was being taught. It all sounded so natural. Even if it was a different reason then he told her. Of course the fact that it WAS a different reason made her narrow her eyes a bit. They narrowed further when the words worked and Lee proceeded in giving very firm advice on the stances. Advice that, judging from the blondes face, was hungrily devoured and assimilated. He then thanked the dark haired boy with another of those bright smiles and went off to practice on his own… and was marginally better. His stances firming up.

When sparring time came Naruto was put up against one of the other boys, not Neji… this time, who clearly expected an easy victory. In fact everyone expected one. After all Naruto was sloppy in his taijutsu. However it would seem a little advice goes a long way. That little shrimp has a lot of speed and power in his body. Speed and power that was almost completely neutralized by his sloppy stances. Granted he wasn't amazing in the fight, but he still won. Now if he put even more effort, and tried to actually do things right more often… no that line of thinking no longer held significance.

The teacher was even more unhappy after the spar, and the class even more shocked. After they went inside for more lessons and lectures class was dismissed. However Naruto was asked to stay behind. Which was little weird, and probably Tenten's best chance to learn the truth. Though she was no longer sure what the truth was, nor if she truly wanted to learn it. In the end she made her choice and listened in from outside the classroom. The conversation she listened to had been… educational.

* * *

"Uzumaki," their teacher said sounding as calm and kind as ever, yet there was a slight undercurrent of something else there, "I couldn't help but notice your performance today."

"I know right?" Naruto responded as energetic as possible. "I did awesome. Everyone was shocked."

"Yes, they were. As was I. Why did you perform like that?" Wait that question sounded off.

"Well," Naruto started to reply and sounded a little embarrassed, "I know you said I should do it exclusively the way you taught me, but I was curious. I mean you never taught me how to do it like everyone else, and I wanted to see the difference."

"So you went against my orders?" Orders? What? The teacher suddenly sounded a lot less kind.

"What do you mean teach? You suggested I stick with your lessons because they would make me more awesome than everyone else. I didn't go against that. I'm merely getting a comparison. That way I know how much better I am doing with what you taught me." There was that ability to justify things again. It sounded so logical and yet… the teacher taught him everything wrong? Is that what HONESTLY happened? It had to be. The teacher pretty much said so.

"Who taught you?"

"Taught me?"

"Yes, who taught you how to do everything? Who did you show off and brag to?"

"No one Teach. I promised I wouldn't and I Naruto Uzumaki ALWAYS keeps his promises." Well that was true.. He HADN'T bragged about it. However why was the teacher sounding so… angry? "Besides no one really wants to talk to me so I had to watch the class to figure out how they did things." Okay NOW he was lying… why?

There was silence so thick you could cut it with a nodachi and still whole. It was deafening. Then a voice finally and suddenly shattered the silence, "Very well Uzumaki. But do not rely on what is taught in class. I taught you the alternative despite it being so very advance because I believed you would be able to do great things with it. If you start relying on what is taught in class it would minimize the efficiency of the techniques I personally taught you." WHAT!? That.. that was bullshit. It had to be.

"I know teach. I just wanted a baseline. That way when I get super amazing with your techniques I can show just how great I got."

She could hear the smirk from the teacher. Actually hear it. "Good. Now head home Uzumaki. I need to grade the papers."

"Alright, see ya."

* * *

After that point she had made a very hasty retreat, and it still made her shudder a bit to know that her teacher really WAS trying to sabotage Naruto. But why? And why did Naruto lie about how he learned to do things properly? Okay so the teacher wasn't happy, and was doing things on purpose but… The idiot couldn't have been trying to protect her and Lee was he? Why would he do that?

In the past week none of those questions had been answered. Not in class anyway. Not that she limited herself to just class. No, apparently class wasn't the best place to get the full story that was Naruto Uzumaki. So to get the full story she started following him after school. By doing this she learned three important facts.

The first was that the idiot was seriously lacking situational awareness. This however might be as much of a plus as it was a minus. At least from his point of view. She hadn't noticed it when she was walking with him to her dad's store the first time but now that she wasn't pissed off she saw it clearly. Most of the adults glared and avoided the young boy. No words, no actively aggressive behavior. Just a lot of passive aggressive ignoring of existence. And the boy was ignoring it right back easily. It didn't look to bother him. Like he trained himself not to notice those around him so that he wouldn't have to deal with it. But why would it get that bad? Yeah he was a troublemaker, but wasn't this a little extreme?

The second thing she learned was that he actually did train. In fact he trained a lot. His methods weren't exactly right, and a lot of the techniques were sloppy, but he was diligent about it. She also noticed that the practiced the lessons and advice that he got out of herself and Lee. They were some of the only thing he did right. Coincidently they were also the things she saw him practice most. It was like the problem wasn't his attention, but the tools he received. The fact that she also saw pick up several low quality and damaged items on the way to his training spot just made her frown.

However it was the third thing she found out that was the most interesting. She learned of it the third day. She learned the details just the day before now. It turned out that the young blonde had a stalker.

* * *

Tenten watched as the blonde entered his home than turned her attention to across the street where a young girl with dark blue hair gave a sigh, and retreated from her hiding spot behind a telephone pole. She noticed the girl a few days ago. It was quite the shock realizing that she wasn't the only one following the blonde around. The fact that it was a Hyuuga that was doing it…

"Hey kid wait up!" Tenten called. She decided that if she was going to try and learn about her would be student, she was going to need all angles. A stalker might be biased to the positive, but there was usually a grain of truth in even the biggest of exaggerations. Usually.

Though she was going to take the fact that the girl squeaked, jumped, and turned around meekly and with great surprise as a cute bonus.

"Oh um, hello." The girl said with her pointer fingers coming before her face and pushing against each other. "How can I help you?"

"Oh nothing much, I just noticed you were following Naruto and thought you could help me understand him a bit more. I will even walk you to your compound. Its quite far isn't it?"

The girl appeared hesitant and was blushing a dark red but eventually nodded. "Fantastic, I'm Tenten by the way."

"I'm Hinata Hyuuga."

"Neji's cousin and the heiress?" Tenten immediately regretted her blurted out statement as she watched the girl flinch before she started walking. There was something wrong there.

"Yes." was the quiet response that the bun-haired girl had to strain her ears to hear.

As the throwing expert recaptured her wits and caught up to the shy girl she cleared her throat. "Right, well… why are you following around Naruto?" Might as well cut to the chase. Maybe it will make things less awkward. Then again if the girl keeps mumbling… "I'm sorry I didn't catch that."

"He protected me from bullies two years ago. I was being picked on because I'm a Hyuuga, and I didn't want to fight… then he just ran in and jumped on the biggest of the bullies, however he was quickly beaten up. I c-couldn't do anything." The girls eyes started tearing up."I-I wanted to b-b-but I was so scared. Than the man that was watching over me interfered but took me away before I could thank my savior. Said I should never see or talk to him again."

Tenten was floored. The kid acted selflessly, most likely in a situation that the could not win in period and likely with his usual brash and loud way of doing things, and an adult had told Hinata not to interact with him even after he did such an act? That… that didn't sound right. "But that doesn't explain why you follow him around."

The girl blushed a deeper shade of red and looked to the floor. It was a miracle she didn't crash into anything while walking. "Well he was so brave than unlike me. He kept trying to fight even when he wa losing. I-I… was hoping th-that maybe I could learn how to be like that if I watched him. If I learned about him may-maybe I could draw strength from him."

"Pfft. Good luck with that. You don't have class with him. He is lazy, doesn't pay attention, doesn't really try, goofs off way too much…" she started to trail off when she realized she was walking forward by herself. She looked over her shoulder and saw the little Hyuuga giving her a hard look with her little hands shaking.

"Then why did you agree to teach him?" What? How did she- "How can you say that while you yourself have followed him around for the past week? How can you believe that if you actually watched him?" Why was her voice so strong? "Or are your eyes closed like everyone else's? Do you hate him for no reason like the rest? Are you only teaching him so you can milk him for money or labor? Is that why you have made him wait for a week?"

Okay, that was weird. When did shy and cute become a spitfire? "Woah, hold on now. No need to bite my head off… I was just telling you what he was like at school." That stopped her. The anger, while not completely gone, faded and she suddenly got read again and looked at the ground once more. What was with this girl? "Look until recently all I saw was a lazy, troublemaking class clown. Yet now I have learned he seems to be so much more. I had to figure out exactly who I was dealing with. I don't hate him, but he confuses me. You see him one way, and I find it hard to believe because it goes against everything I have seen till recently."

"Th-then what will you d-do?" The girl asked.. the stutter was back.. and yet some of that anger still remained. Who would have thought this quiet little girl would have a bit of fire in her? That was interesting.

"Tomorrow I will begin Naruto's training…" She then smiled. Another decision was made. "If you want you can get in on it too. I can teach you a weapon like I am Naruto. You will be under the same penalties, but I'm sure you could pay easily, but then if you work at the store you'll be able…" Her words ceased when she noticed something in the girl's eyes. Fear. "Whats wrong?"

"A-a Hyuuga can not learn things outside of the clan, the academy, or their team instructors." Hinata stated with a fearful tone to her voice. "And we may not use anything other than the gentle fist outside of the academy. All other things are below us and thus useless except under the more direst of circumstances. If we can not protect ourselves with gentle fist alone we are not Hyuuga."

Well that explained Neji's stick up his ass when it came to the academy. But seriously what was all this about gentle fist? Okay yeah it was tough but it couldn't be unbeatable right? "No one has to know right?" The girl shook her head still terrified. "Fine.. but since you will likely follow him there anyway.. why not come in to work at my father's store. Earn a bit of money… and see Naruto more." That seemed to grab her… but by then they were at the compound. "Alright than meet me after classes… you do go to the academy right?" a nod. "Good see you tomorrow." With that she left the poor confused girl at the gates of her compound as Tenten headed home.

* * *

She smiled at that little memory. The girl had potential. As did Naruto if she was honest, and she found that she really didn't want to be. It still felt off. Everything about that boy did. However she would just have to deal with it. What was done was done.

Just before class she had approached Naruto and finally told him that he was to meet he after class. They would discuss scheduling at the shop. God he had been so excited. That super bright smile made its appearance again. He was so confusing. A puzzle that had to be solved. A puzzle that she would solve, damn it.


End file.
